Summary:Paul Komyatti, Sr. on occasion drank to
excess and became loud and violent. He was disliked by
members of his immediate family, which included his wife,
Rosemary, his son Paul Jr., and his daughter , Mariann.
Paul Sr. had demanded that Mariann divorce Vandiver
because of his criminal past., and threatened to inform
the police on him. Vandiver joined with the family in a
conspiracy to kill Paul Sr. Pursuant to their agreement,
several attempts to poison him were made without success.
Finally, they decided to put him under with ether and
inject air into his veins. One evening, Vandiver and
Mariann waited outside the home for a signal from Paul
Jr. that Paul Sr. was asleep. Upon seeing the signal,
they entered the house and changed the plan at the last
moment for lack of ether. Instead they entered the
bedroom intending to smother Paul Sr., and sprang on him
in his bed. Paul Sr. fought hard for his life and yet
another attempt at murder was bungled. Vandiver, however,
terminated the resistance by stabbing him in the back
with a fish filet knife "at least 100 times."
34 deep knife wounds were later discovered on the body.
He hit him in the head 5 or 6 times with his gun, but he
was still breathing. By Vandiver's own admission,
decapitation was the immediate cause of death. Vandiver
and the other family members then sectioned up the body
while making jokes. Evidence was also presented that
Vandiver had gotten a "loan" of $5000 from Paul
Jr., as well as $1700 and Paul Sr.'s truck from Rosemary.
At trial, Vandiver recanted his prior confessions and
placed the entire blame on Paul Jr. for the murder and
dissection.

VANDIVER WAIVED APPEALS AND WAS EXECUTED BY ELECTRIC CHAIR ON 10-16-85 AT 12:20 AM EST. HE WAS THE 72ND CONVICTED MURDERER EXECUTED IN INDIANA SINCE 1900, AND THE SECOND SINCE THE DEATH PENALTY WAS REINSTATED IN 1977.